Fiddle, Viola & Violin

The Violin and Viola are hollow wooden instruments shaped like an 8 with 4 strings stretched along its length. The base is placed under the chin with one hand holding the neck of the instrument whilst the other uses a bow across the strings. The bow is usually made of wood with horsehair stretched along the length of one side.

Notes are produced by plucking the strings with the fingers, known as pizzicato, by running the bow across one or more strings, known as arco or using the wood part of the bow in a rhythmic manner known as col legno.

These instruments vary in tone depending on their size. The Violin is the smallest of the bowed string family followed by the Viola, Cello and the Double Bass.

Fiddle is another term used for the violin, especially by folk, bluegrass, celtic and country players.

These instruments are very popular in many styles of music including blues, pop, rock, jazz, classical and have been used successfully on songs by Buddy Holly, Adam Faith, The Beatles, Gene Vincent and more recently on 'Bittersweet Symphony' by The Verve.

Fiddle, Viola & Violin Sheet Music

String Quartet Arrangements 2 free pieces of string quartet sheet music for violin, viola and cello are provided by professional copyist Leonid Portnoy in the 'My arrangements for string quartet' section - Jacques Offenbach. Galop from :"La Vie Parisienne" and A. Grunfeld. Valse from "Der Lebemann" are in .pdf format and other titles are available for a fee.

Online String Applications

Arto's String Calculator very comprehensive online program with full instructions for calculating where a string can be used by setting the diameter and more. Measures string tension and diameter for a number of instruments, in a variety of settings.

Java Tuner This Java applet demonstrates various historical tunings and temperaments and allows one to experiment with them. It was developed to accompany a text on Understanding temperaments, and is complemented by a set of MIDI files demonstrating various tunings and temperaments, full instructions and a variety of modern and archaic tuning modes. Also provides selected intervals and a chord player.

String Guage & Tension Calculator Check your string tensions based on pitch, guage and type of string, also does the inverse calculation when you type in other string parameters.